[Trick]

A bit on the fun and pedantic side of things, what do you think of the changes in store for us?

Are you  or 

-- Trick

[transitive]

I don't think your sentiments accurately reflect the way alot of players feel about or play the game. I also don't think your characterization of the three psychographics captures the depth and range of people covered by these terms.

You said Timmy is "the simple" player. This isn't really true in my experience. Timmy's don't particularly need or want a greater amount of simplicity. They aren't just new players (still learning) or casual players (not connected to the competitive magic world). Timmy players just have a preference about what they find enjoyable in the game. A Timmy likes creature-based magic. Attacking and blocking are good things for Timmy. Bigger is better is the way Timmy feels in general, but sometimes bigger is synonymous with "more guys" and not just "wow this dude is huge." Timmy is inspired by flavor elements related to fantasy battle. There's more natural overlap between Timmy and Vorthos (the flavor driven psychographic that the wonderful Matt Cavotta used to write about so often) then between the other two psychographics.

You said Johnny is "the deck builder". Maybe this is true, but all magic players have to build decks and anyone who plays alot of magic also spends alot of time outside of the game thinking about magic, in other words building decks. Johnnies don't just like to build decks they like to play decks that they consider unique and interesting. There are lots of different motivations behind this and any given Johnny comes from a slightly different angle. Some Johnnies like to try to break formats with rogue decks. Some Johnnies are big fans of a particular archetype and will play their custom build of a favorite deck every opportunity they get. Some Johnnies are brilliant tinkerers and like to make original changes to established decks. Johnnies are the closest aligned to the Melvin psychographic, one that MaRo mentions occasionally. Melvins have a great appreciation for the design of the cards themselves and think that the great variety of possibilities in magic is really cool. Johnnies and Melvins are both likely to develop fondness for a card that they think is interesting to play with and then go out there and have fun playing it.

Spikes are competitive but they are not single minded or mono-lithic about competition. Spike likes to play, likes to follow formats, likes to gauge the metagame, and enjoys the tournament atmosphere. Winning is the most rewarded thing but it isn't the only thing. Competition is rewarding in its own right. Showing off skills is meaningless, the reward is internal. Competing is an end unto itself regardless of outcome. Spikes understand that magic is a game of both skill and chance and therefore favor cards and strategies that are efficient and consistent. They like these things because they are well suited to the competitive environment. Spikes are the least inspired by the flavor or design of magic but are the most inspired by the community of magic and the tournament scene and organized play in general.


I also think your judgment of how the player types will react to the rarity change is a bit inaccurate.

Re: Fewer cards per year

Timmy - I think Timmy will be indifferent about this. I don't feel like Timmy's are more or less driven to collect than any other type of player. The interest a person develops with regards to owning a large amount of cards isn't linked to there play psychographic, its a different thing entirely. Collecting is related to trading. Trading has nothing to do with the way the game is played and isn't covered by any of the play psychographics.

Johnny - I think Johnny will be the most upset by this. This is almost 100% negative for a Johnny, who likes to think about the game alot. This reduces the amount of stuff he has to think about. Its like telling a Jigsaw puzzle fan that they couldn't do 1000 piece puzzles anymore and now could only do 750 piece puzzles. Wouldn't go over very well.

Spike - I think Spike will approve of this. Smaller card pools make formats easier to learn which is a big help given the constraints on time that affect things like playtesting. Spike likes to understand a format and feels overwhelmed and a little put off gigantic formats with too many options. Consider why Standard has consistently been the most popular constructed format where bigger formats like Legacy have had trouble getting any footing.


Re: Mythic rares

Timmy - I agree with you on this one. Timmy will like this. MaRo basically said that the most flavorful, cool, and splashy cards will be the Mythic rares. Timmy will enjoy the special status given to his favorite cards.

Johnny - Johnny won't like this. It seems pointless and frustrating. The price issue might be relevant, but the biggest turn off will be the notion that the mythic rare thing is a deliberate "dumbing down" of Magic to make it more like Yugioh or other simpler games oriented towards younger players. Johnnies really like the complexity and challenge of Magic and also really like that the game is noticeably more mature and does things differently than other card games.

Spike - Spike won't care. High secondary market prices are always a pain, but its just a necessary evil. Also, the announcement gave the impression that most Mythics won't really be Spike oriented cards anyway. Spike is quite happy to get fewer unplayable big giant dudes in their packs. However, this won't have ANY effect on sealed and draft. Limited formats are driven by commons and uncommons not rares. People actively complain about how bomb rares make Sealed deck way too random and feel like a lottery and not a game of skill. Making bomb rares more rare should improve these formats if anything.

Re: Basic land in boosters

Nobody will care. This has a very minor negative effect on draft, but it won't be noticeable. This is just good for new players. Thats good for everybody in the long run.

Re: Intro Packs

Everybody will like this. Again, this is just something thats good for new players and thus good for everybody in the long run.

[BassmanARW]

Taking out a card for land is ridiculous. How does this help younger and/or newer players? They only need to buy 23 packs to have enough land to make 1 deck! Genius.

[Trick]

Thanks for the feedback transitive! I purposefully simplified the archetype descriptions, but they were all based on the way Mark represented them.

No, Timmy isn't necessarily simple, but compared to Johnny and Spike, his goal is simple - have fun! I didn't mean simple in any insulting way, I just meant it in that he is the most straight forward when it comes to the game. Perhaps I phrased it wrong, but that is what I meant.

As for Johnny, this is directly from Mark Rosewater article that I linked to, the italics are his own:

Deck building isn't an aspect of the game to Johnny; it's the aspect.

Then we go to Spike, and again I directly quote Mark Rosewater:

So why does Spike play? Spikes plays to prove something, primarily to prove how good he is. You see, Spike sees the game as a mental challenge by which he can define and demonstrate his abilities. Spike gets his greatest joy from winning because his motivation is using the game to show what he is capable of.

The whole purpose of player types is to simplify who the game is made for. It presents it with everything wrapped up nice and clean until you go looking at the details and find all the crossovers or exceptions or general problems with them.

On the whole, I won't counter you on your points for the four changes, these are your opinion and I respect them. You said yours a lot more eloquently than I did, but I was focused on brevity. The purpose of this article was to again put the changes out there for players to read in an effort to make sure more players knew about the changes coming, the archetypes was the vehicle in which I did so.

-- Trick

[Lythand]

I wanted to note one thing here. In each example Timmy was happy. Is this not what wizards is focussing on now, the casual players? So in essance the changes area good move towards that goal.

[Hdier]

I think that a better way to sum up all of the psychographic profiles is to use the main phrase that MaRo used for each type, and summing up the subtypes:

Timmy: Timmy wants to experience something, weather that be getting out huge effects, interacting with others, playing many different things, or having fun with chance cards.

Johnny: Johnny wants to express something. This might be showing off unique decks, building decks based around a theme, or building decks that 'can't be done'.

Spike: Spike wants to prove something, which may be creating new powerful decks, beating the metagame, or showing how well he can play.

Why would a Timmy have problems finding lands?

Also, Bassman, the point of having the lands in the booster packs isn't to be a source of lands, but to help ensure that the player doesn't walk away (it has to do with the psychological effect of getting a pack and not being able to use anything in it; sure, one land won't be enough for a deck, but it is a difference in the mind, even if it purely subconscious).

Thanks,
Hdier

[Trick]

Thanks for the input Hdier, I used those as a baseline in my thought behind the piece. MaRo had said specifically that the issue of getting lands was one they had gotten feedback concerning, it doesn't make sense to me either but it's what he said.